Can love withstand the test of time?
by Starberry1
Summary: Kaoru's finally going to tell Kenshin how she feels about him, but she accidentally overhears something and is heartbroken! What happens now? *better summary inside!* ^^ Please R+R people! Please!
1. Default Chapter

~*Disclaimer*~ I do NOT own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters; RK is property of Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha and Sony Entertainment...WAHHH!!!!  
  
~*Better summary of fic*~ Kaoru decides to finally tell Kenshin how she feels about him, but she accidentally over hears a conversation and is heart broken. She then seeks solace from a stranger, but this stranger is not what he seems; and Kaoru heads for an adventure of a lifetime. But what about Kenshin?  
  
Key: *_* - characters thinking (_) - action and/or sound "_" - characters talking  
  
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"How do I tell him? How? How?!" Kaoru was thinking to herself aloud, while pacing back and forth in her room. Today was the day that Kamiya Kaoru would walk up to Kenshin, and tell him that she loved him. She had kept it in her for way too long now, and just had to let it out. *But.what happens if he doesn't love me? He'll reject me..*, she thought. She then slumped onto the floor, and took a deep breath.  
  
*How can he love me? I'm probably just some ugly, tomboyish tanuki in his eyes. He could never love me, the way I love him.*. She then looked up with determination in her eyes. "What am I saying?! I'll tell him! Ya, that's what I'll do! No matter what, because I.love him! I'll tell him the moment I see him!".  
  
"Tell who Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked looking at her from her door. (blag!) Kaoru fell done anime-style,  
  
She stood quickly scratching her head. And said, "Uh..no one Kenshin, just practicing that's all..he he" *please let him believe me!*. Kenshin smiled, "Oh, practicing for what?". Kaoru blinked, "Uh.a play! Ya, a play that I'm doing.somewhere.in town...next week." "Oh, what play is it? I would love to attend (smiling), Kenshin asked.  
  
"The play? Uh..it's about.uh.a girl..and a..guy.who.who.act..hehe!", she said sheepishly. "(sweatdrop) Sessha never knew that Kaoru-dono wanted to be an actress", said Kenshin. Flames appeared in Kaoru's eyes, "What's it to ya Kenshin?! And what are you doing here in my room anyways?"  
  
Kenshin's eyes grew wide as he took a huge step back from the angry kendo instructor, "eep! Sessha just came to say that lunch was ready Kaoru-dono!"  
  
Kaoru instantly calmed down, "oh.well I'll be there in a few minutes Kenshin..he he!" Kenshin politely bowed, "Hai! *she has such a strange personality, but I guess that's partly why I love her*"  
  
Kenshin then walked out of her room and went to set the table.  
  
She folded her arms, "The nerve of him barging into my room like that..(sigh)..Oh no! And I got angry at him; I really blew my chances this time! Kaoru no baka! I know; I'll apologize during lunch!"  
  
With that, she stood up and quickly walked off to the kitchen where there was the delicious smell of miso soup.  
  
To Be Continued. 


	2. The Cherry Blossom Pond

~*Chapter 2 - Meet me later.at the Cherry Blossom pond..*~  
  
As Kaoru walked into the kitchen, she could see Kenshin sprinkling the final toppings onto the rice.  
  
When Kaoru steps into the kitchen, she takes a sniff at the delicious smell of Kenshin's cooking, "Mmm.Kenshin.it smells yummy!" Kenshin smiles at the compliment, "A-Arigatou Kaoru-dono!"  
  
In the middle of their meal, Kaoru put down her chopsticks and rice bowl and looked down. A few seconds later, Kenshin looked up from his food and then at her.  
  
"Kaoru-dono? Daijobu? Is there something wrong with my cooking?" Kenshin asked. Kaoru hastily spoke, "Iie Kenshin! It's not that at all, I'm fine and your cooking is great! It's.just that..I want to apologize for my actions a while ago. I shouldn't have yelled at you..and-"  
  
Kenshin gently interrupted her and smiled, "It's alright Kaoru-dono, it was sessha's fault. Sessha shouldn't have walked in without knocking first, especially while Kaoru-dono is practicing her lines for a play!"  
  
Kaoru cheeks now held a tint a pink in them as Kenshin smiled directly at her, she then swallowed and spoke, "It-It's alright Kenshin, really! Let's forget the whole thing shall we?" Kenshin nodded his head and continued with his meal, as Kaoru did the same.  
  
When the meal was over, Kenshin stood up and began gathering the bowls to clean them, but Kaoru stopped him by gently grabbing his wrist. "Huh? What is it Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked as he was refrained from cleaning the kitchen-ware. Kaoru, whose face was now the color of Kenshin's magenta gi, cleared her throat and stood up. She then directly faced Kenshin and looked straight into his deep lavender eyes.  
  
"Kenshin." Kaoru started, "Kenshin.I.I.." Kaoru then cursed mentally, *Great! I finally get some time alone with him to tell him how much I love him, AND THE WORDS WON'T COME OUT!!!* By this time, Kenshin was very curious on what Kaoru wanted to tell him, he then spoke up; "Kaoru-dono, you must know that you can tell sessha anything you wish".  
  
*I'll tell him! I'll tell him.NOW!*, Kaoru screamed in her mind. She then tightened her grip on Kenshin's wrist and finally spoke the words she had wanted to tell him for so long, "Himura Kenshin, I.love-!"  
  
But, Kaoru was instantly interrupted by someone sliding the kitchen door open very roughly. "Oi Jou-chan! Got any food left? I'm, starving!" it was none other than the loud-mouthed gangster, Sagara Sanosuke. "I just came from..!" but he stopped in mid-sentence as he saw the two standing right in front of each other, with Kaoru grasping Kenshin's wrist. A wide, perverted grin spread across his face as he spoke "Oops, I seem to have disrupted *ahem!* something going on here, c'mon you guys! Get at least a little privacy, not here in the kitchen!" He then started snickering as he saw Kaoru's face turn as red as a cherry and Kenshin who blinked innocently back.  
  
Kaoru exploded, "SANO YOU BAKA!!! YOU DON'T JUST COME IN WITHOUT KNOCKING!!! I WAS GOING TO TELL KENSHIN SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT!....AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO WHAT YOU THINK WE ARE GOING TO DO!!!!"  
  
Sano grinned, "Oh! Something 'important' huh? Like what Kaoru?" Kaoru was about to say something, but thought better not to. She angrily stormed out off the kitchen and into her room, purposely stepping on Sano's foot on the way out really hard, which caused him to yelp out in pain.  
  
As soon as Kaoru was out of earshot, Kenshin spoke up as he began clearing the table, "I wonder what she wanted to say to me that was so important?" "Bah! Women! Who can understand them sometimes? I wonder why she got so worked up, I just asked for food!" Sano said, while sitting down on the floor.  
  
Kenshin looked thoughtful for a second as he finished putting the dishes away, "Maybe I should go talk to her, she seemed really, really upset and what she wanted to tell me seemed to be serious" Sano shrugged, "Suit your self Kenshin, good luck!"  
  
Kenshin quietly made his way to Kaoru's room, being careful to knock first. "Kaoru-dono? May sessha come in?" There was no reply from her room after a minute, Kenshin was worried by now. He cautiously and gently slid open her door, "Kaoru-dono?" When he looked in, Kaoru was not there, the first thing he saw was a tiny letter laid carefully on her futon.  
  
Kenshin walked over to her bed and slowly picked up the letter, after examining it he gently opened it, it read:  
  
Dear Kenshin,  
  
I knew you would come to my room eventually after I stormed out; you were worried again, weren't you? Kenshin no baka! Don't be such a worry wart, always thinking I'm in trouble or upset! Well.actually I am.I really wanted to tell you something very important Kenshin, but Sano had to walk in! Could you do me a favor, onegai? Meet me just before sunset.at the Cherry Blossom pond.. There, I will speak to you.  
  
-Kaoru  
  
P.S. Onegai, no more Kaoru-dono! And drop the 'sessha' attitude!  
  
Kenshin stared at the letter for a few minutes after reading it; then a gentle whisper escaped his lips, "Kaoru." He quickly folded the letter and slipped into his gi, he then padded swiftly out her room in hopes of reaching Kaoru before dark. 


	3. The Stranger

~* Chapter 3 - The stranger *~  
  
Kaoru sighed, she had been waiting for Kenshin for over an hour already and the sun was almost done setting. The stars, like crystal teardrops, began to shine. Kaoru fidgeted in her seat, which was a large, smooth stone just facing the Cherry Blossom Pond. The pond was so named because of the beautiful cherry blossom trees that surrounded it; this pond was very special to Kaoru since it was the place where her father had confessed his love to Kaoru's mother. So, she figured this was the best place to tell Kenshin how she really felt about him.  
  
After 10 minutes, Kaoru stood up, "Where is that Kenshin?! Sunset was nearly an hour ago and he still hasn't arrived!" She suddenly stopped and thought for a moment, *Maybe he didn't come because..he doesn't like me. Maybe he knew what I was going to say already*. She looked up at the sky and thought aloud, "Kenshin, is it true?" She had to know, Kaoru then as fast as she could back to the dojo, trying to keep tears back.  
  
At the dojo, Kenshin was trying to keep an enraged Sano calm, also hoping to get to Kaoru on time. Kenshin spoke loudly, "Sano! Please, calm down! Stop trying to fight against me, I don't want to hurt you" But Sano didn't listen, "Shut up Kenshin and fight me already!" he shouted as he held up his fists in a fighting position. *He drank too much sake again*, Kenshin thought, *I'll just have to knock him out and get to Kaoru as fast as I can*. Using his god-like speed, Kenshin ran up behind Sano and hit a pressure point on his neck, causing Sano to lay on the floor unconscious. "I'm sorry Sano, I had to do that", Kenshin said. He looked outside, it was already dark, "Oh no, Kaoru!" But, just as Kenshin was going to step out, he saw a letter tucked into Sano's pocket out of the corner of his eye.  
  
Thinking it was an important document, Kenshin slowly picked it up and unfolded it, it was a love letter that Sano had written to Megumi, it read:  
  
Dear Megumi,  
  
I know you hate me and all, but I just got to say this to you. I really do love you, I can't tell you exactly why, probably because you are beautiful, you help people or whatever! I really needed to tell you that, sorry if I'm not good in words or anything. I hope you love me too.  
  
-Sano or 'Rooster head' as you call me  
  
By this time, Kaoru was back in the dojo. She ran through the gate and inside, she looked frantically for Kenshin, all the while praying that something was just delaying him from meeting her earlier. She was just passing by the kitchen when she heard Kenshin's gentle voice speaking; she walked closer to the kitchen door, careful not to make a sound. Her eyes widened as she heard Kenshin speaking of his love to Megumi, she assumed it was a letter that he had written to Megumi..the one he loved! And that he was reading it over before he gave it to her! Kaoru's whole body stiffened, *No.he.loves Megumi! That's it, he loves her! Not me! Her!*, these thoughts ran through Kaoru's head as fast as Kenshin's own speed. She wished with all her heart and soul that she had not heard those words, her eyes brimmed with tears; she was heart-broken.  
  
Kaoru ran, she didn't know where she was heading, she didn't even care. All she wanted to do was to get as far away from the dojo as possible, as she ran; her ribbon went undone; setting her raven-black hair free in the wind. Her vision was now blurred, caused by the tears that filled her eyes, and even now these tears streamed down her cheeks. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, in pain. "Kenshin.I thought you loved me! Oh how I wished you did, instead you love Megumi! Oh Kenshin!" Kaoru spoke to herself as she ran, crying at the same time. Eventually, Kaoru's running led her to a nearby stream, where she fell to her knees right by the edge.  
  
Kaoru continued to cry for some time, setting free the pain that was in her broken heart, all the while murmuring that she was stupid to even fall for Kenshin in the first place when there was hard competition around; namely Megumi Takani. She knew she should have just given up Kenshin as soon as Megumi stepped into the scene, since Kenshin would obviously fall for her, for her beauty, grace, knowledge, etc. Not Kaori, who couldn't cook, acted like a tomboy and was just a tanuki! After a while, Kaoru eventually stopped crying even though she didn't want to stop and even though she knew crying wouldn't do anything. She sat down, still by the stream's edge, sniffling. "I guess I should just forget.about him now.what's the point of loving him if he loves..Megumi? I was stupid to.fall for you in the first place..." Kaoru spoke to herself, he cheeks still wet from her tears.  
  
(crack!)  
  
Kaoru quickly turned her head to look behind her, she heard someone in the bushes nearby. She slowly stood up, ready for an attack if it came, "Damn! And me without my kendo sword! What if it's a bandit or something..?" She eyed the bush carefully, it shook a few times; Kaoru was ready to fight with or without her sword. Suddenly, the bushes parted and out stepped a man, small in stature, he had white, thin hair, his skin was dark and had obvious wrinkles on them, and his eyes seemed to show a spark of great wisdom and mystery. He wore an old tattered and faded green gi, and his sandals showed a lot of wear and tear. Kaoru just stared at him, a little shocked at his appearance.  
  
He finally spoke, "Hello, my name is Kizuko Mayamoto"  
  
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A/N: Heya minna! So sorry for not getting this chapter up for soooo long! But schoolwork has kept me extremely busy! I promise the next chapter will be up real soon! ^^ Ja ne and thanks again for the reviews! 


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